{"id":23373,"date":"2020-12-16T02:04:48","date_gmt":"2020-12-16T02:04:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=23373"},"modified":"2020-12-17T05:39:05","modified_gmt":"2020-12-17T05:39:05","slug":"museum-specimens-could-help-fight-the-next-pandemic-why-preserving-collections-is-crucial-to-future-scientific-discoveries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/museum-specimens-could-help-fight-the-next-pandemic-why-preserving-collections-is-crucial-to-future-scientific-discoveries\/","title":{"rendered":"Museum specimens could help fight the next pandemic \u2013 why preserving collections is crucial to future scientific discoveries"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jocelyn P. Colella<\/a>, University of Kansas<\/a><\/em> and Bryan McLean<\/a>, University of North Carolina \u2013 Greensboro<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Imagine yourself as the first naturalist to stand in a place where little recorded scientific knowledge exists, like Alfred Russel Wallace in the Malay Archipelago<\/a> or Alexander von Humboldt in the Americas<\/a> in the early 1800s. The notes you record will expand humanity\u2019s scientific knowledge of the natural world, and the specimens of plants and animals you collect are destined to be used for centuries<\/a> to describe past and present biodiversity and make new discoveries in biomedicine and beyond.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A biological field crew surveying small mammal diversity in Panama. They sample different tissue types, internal and external parasites and the bacterial and viral communities of animal hosts. The data are then digitally stored in museum databases and the physical specimens are archived in museum biorepositories.<\/span>
\nJonathan L. Dunnum<\/span>, CC BY-ND<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now, imagine if those specimens were never collected.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what it\u2019s like if samples from the field are not archived. Natural history museums are the guardians of specimens, ensuring their future availability to the scientific community on shelves, in libraries and through curated online databases<\/a>. Yet, despite scientists continuing to sample the natural world<\/a>, many specimens are not<\/a> ending up in biorepositories<\/a>. If specimens are not archived, the next generation of scientists will inevitably have to reinvent the wheel, spending more time and money resampling the world\u2019s species and geography to answer future questions.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a variety of reasons that specimens don\u2019t get saved, including insufficient museum-based training among newer generations of scientists, poor funding of natural history collections and a lapse in data priorities from organizations that fund and disseminate scientific knowledge.<\/p>\n

In a new paper published in the journal BioScience<\/a>, we<\/a> and our colleagues<\/a> outline how existing loopholes in U.S. federal data policies, backward data priorities by scientific journals and a culture of data ownership have made it too easy for research specimens to be discarded. This problem stands to hamstring scientific progress<\/a>. But, it\u2019s not too late to change.<\/p>\n

Old specimens, new discoveries<\/h2>\n
\"bat<\/a>
Bat specimens preserved at the Museum of Southwestern Biology at the University of New Mexico.<\/span>
\nJonathan L. Dunnum<\/span>, CC BY-ND<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When archived in museums, specimens \u2013 literally, the bones, skins and tissues of biodiversity \u2013 can be used and reused to answer new scientific questions over time<\/a>, including many of societal concern<\/a>.<\/p>\n

An all-too-familiar example these days is the use of preserved tissues to trace the origins of zoonotic diseases \u2013 that is, diseases that come from animals. Most emerging diseases in people are zoonotic<\/a>, including COVID-19, rabies, MERS and Ebola.<\/p>\n

Properly preserved wildlife specimens, often collected for a completely different purpose \u2013 wildlife conservation or ecological research, for example \u2013 make museum biorepositories a vital player in public health research<\/a>. Each archived sample can be used to identify the wildlife sources of a disease, monitor changes in disease prevalence and distribution over time, and identify environmental variables that may lead to spillover into people.<\/p>\n

\"scientists<\/a>
Museum and biomedical researchers surveying southwestern rodent populations to respond to the 1993 hantavirus spillover event.<\/span>
\nJonathan L. Dunnum<\/span>, CC BY-ND<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the early 1990s, an unknown lethal virus jumped into humans, killing 13 people in the American Southwest. Mammal specimens, originally sampled for other reasons and preserved at the Museum of Southwestern Biology<\/a>, were used by researchers to identify the pathogen as a hantavirus and its wildlife source as deer mice. Museum specimens also provided evidence that the virus had been circulating in Southwestern rodent populations for over a decade, and its emergence in humans was linked to El Ni\u00f1o climate cycles. In this way, museum collections provide hard evidence for rapid, scientifically informed public health guidance<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the origins of COVID-19 have been harder to pinpoint<\/a> \u2013 in part because the number and diversity of specimens available to the scientific community, particularly from Asia and other remote regions, is decreasing.<\/p>\n

Federal policies can encourage preservation<\/h2>\n

The U.S. government has started to prioritize genomic data security<\/a>, but it is not the first to recognize the importance of these data. Currently, the majority of American genetic data is owned by foreign entities, most notably Russia and China<\/a>, as a consequence of lax international biosecurity measures and substantial foreign investment in genomics and biomedicine.<\/p>\n

In response, the National Institutes of Health Genomic Data Sharing Policy<\/a> now promotes archiving molecular sequence data (that is, DNA and RNA) generated from tissue samples.<\/p>\n

This policy is a step in the right direction, but it fails to address equivalent archival requirements for specimens \u2013 the raw material for many DNA sequences used in biodiversity and biomedical research. The irrevocable loss of specimens poses a major risk to national security, public health and science<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"three<\/a>
Wolverine (Gulo gulo<\/em>) crania collected over a federal researcher\u2019s career, now being archived at the Museum of Southwestern Biology for continued scientific use.<\/span>
\nJocelyn P. Colella<\/span>, CC BY-ND<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Other federal agencies are also taking steps in the right direction, but there is room for improvement. For example, recent updates to the U.S. Geological Survey\u2019s data policies<\/a> extend \u201cFAIR\u201d principles<\/a> to species \u2013 meaning specimens must be Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable. USGS also holds the specimen\u2019s collector responsible for ensuring its long-term care. Although these policies apply to USGS scientists, they\u2019re a good model of specimen stewardship for the entire scientific community.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, in extreme cases, the same policy also allows specimens collected with federal funds to be destroyed if deemed \u201cno longer of value or potential use [to] USGS.\u201d Given the irreplaceable nature of specimens, we argue that destruction is rarely justifiable. Instead, preservation of specimens in museums at the conclusion of a project better aligns with national mandates<\/a> to ensure open publication of federal data<\/a> and helps meet the responsibility of making these data available to the public.<\/p>\n

\"frozen<\/a>
Frozen tissues stored at the Museum of Southwestern Biology\u2019s Division of Genomic Resources. Tissue subsamples are loaned for use in genetic research.<\/span>
\nMuseum of Southwestern Biology<\/span>, CC BY-ND<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Scientific journals can set a priority<\/h2>\n

As federal guidelines take shape, scientists themselves have a responsibility to ensure responsible specimen archival to foster the democratization of biological science through increased access.<\/p>\n

One place to act may be during the publication of research papers \u2013 a cornerstone of the scientific enterprise.<\/p>\n